One by One
by koopa2pa
Summary: Master Hand and Crazy Hand have held another smash tournament, and all the smashers from Brawl are there.  But then, one by one, the smashers start dying.  What's the cause?  Please review!  I won't write if it doesn't seem like you're interested!
1. The Tournament Begins!

After Brawl, Master and Crazy Hand had decided to host a fourth smash tournament. Naturally, they decided that, after the success of the previous tournament, they wouldn't change the roster size. And as the 36 smashers (Popo and Nana are 2 people, Zelda/Sheik is one, Zero Suit Samus and Samus are one) returned to the Smash Mansion, the hands didn't take much notice when a couple of the smashers disappeared.

After all of the smashers, including Bowser, Capt. Falcon, Dedede, Diddy, DK, Falco, Fox, Game and Watch, Ganondorf, Ike, Jigglypuff, Kirby, Link, Lucario, Lucas, Luigi, Mario, Marth, Meta Knight, Nana, Ness, Olimar, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Popo, Red, ROB, Samus, Snake, Sonic, Toon Link, Wario, Wolf, Yoshi, and Zelda arrived, Master Hand began to address the smashers.

He said, "Now, Smashers, welcome to the Fourth Smash Tournament! Now, as you all know, there will be a slightly strange bracket this year. Since there were so many of you last year, we won't make any changes! We'll just start in alphabetical order, then go on down the line like that."

Crazy Hand butted in, "Hahahaha! Bowser and Captain Falcon have to go first!"

Master Hand continued, "Yes, thank you for announcing that. So tonight, get a good night's rest, and—"

The lights went out.

"ROB, light up your eyes! We need you to see so we can put the lights back on!" cried Crazy Hand.

Master Hand added, "He's our serviceman these days."

But ROB was nowhere to be found.

Lucario called out, "I'll search out his aura!"

Lucario attempted to find the aura of the robot, but something was wrong.

"He's not there! We'll need to turn on the electricity ourselves!" called out Lucario.

"Pi Pi ka!" Yelled Pikachu as he send out a few sparks from his cheeks.

The Hands followed the yellow mouse down the halls as he led them to the fuse box.

"CHAAAA!" yelled Pikachu in horror as he saw the corpse of ROB near the fuse box.

"Drat! The box exploded, killing ROB in the process…" commented Master Hand. "Crazy, go with Pikachu and turn on the backup generator."

The electrical mouse and maniacal hand went off together to the basement, while Master Hand returned to the main hall of Smash Mansion to share the grave news with the rest of the Smashers.

Master Hand sadly stated, "It is with a heavy heart that I tell all of you that one of our fellow smashers has passed. ROB was found charred near the fuse box. We have a backup generator that will be turned on soon, courtesy of Pikachu and Crazy Hand."

As if on cue, the lights went back on. The Smashers were relieved to find that not a single Smasher had disappeared besides ROB.

Master Hand continued, "Now, that brings us to 35 smashers instead of 36. Samus, who would have battled ROB in the first round, will now get a bye until the second round. The rest of your schedules will remain unchanged. Head off to bed. Bowser is in Room 2A, Captain Falcon in 2B, King Dedede in 2C, Diddy Kong in 2D, DK in 2E, Falco in 2F, Fox in 2G, Mr. Game and Watch is in 2H, Gannondorf in 2I, Ike in 2J, Jigglypuff in 2K, Kirby in 2L, Link in 2M, Lucario in 2N, Lucas in 2O, Luigi in 2P, Mario in 2Q, Meta Knight in 2R, and Nana in 2S. On the third floor, Ness is in 3A, Olimar in 3B, Peach in 3C, Pikachu in 3D, Pit in 3E, Popo in 3F, Red in 3G, RO—wait Samus in 3H, Snake in 3I, Sonic in 3J, Toon Link in 3K, Wario in 3L, Wolf in 3M, Yoshi is in 3N, and Zelda in 3O. Everyone happy? Good." Master Hand ignored the protests of Nana, who wanted to be on the same floor as Popo.

"Hey Ness, you wanna switch rooms?" Ness asked.

"Sure!" Nana replied.

"NO SWITCHING ROOMS!" yelled the angry hand.

"Oh well then…" Ness commented.

_What Happened to ROB? Was it an accident? Or something more sinister?_


	2. Accidents

The next day, Bowser woke up with a start. Everything came back to him. ROB's death, the fight today… it all hit Bowser like the sandwich of doom flying towards his face in a fit of fury had by the sandwich… or something like that. Bowser casually trudged out of bed, and walked down the hall. He was late for breakfast.

Bowser nodded at DK and Kirby, the two resident chefs for Smash Mansion. He took a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, and walked over to where Ganondorf, Wolf, and King Dedede were sitting. Ever since Melee, Ganondorf and Bowser had naturally been the closest of friends. With the dawn of the Brawl tournament, two new villains joined them: Wolf and King Dedede. Ganondorf had always been quiet and contemplative, while Bowser had a more brash personality. Wolf was a very gutsy type of person who would take many risks. King Dedede was the clown of the group; sometimes he came off as a bit childish and unfocused.

The foursome chatted about Bowser's fight that day, with Dedede making occasional cracks about how Bowser didn't have a shot against Captain Falcon. Ganondorf seemed a little distracted and disturbed by ROB's death. Bowser reminded the penguin, "When I win, I'll take you on in the next round, then I'll take on some loser, then Ganondorf, and eventually Wolf in the championship. You'll see." Ganondorf gave a derisive snort expressing his disagreement about Bowser beating him.

Meanwhile, Captain Falcon had his own group of friends, and he wasn't worried about the match at all. He shared his passion for speed and racing with Sonic, and Samus shared his profession. Snake, being a mercenary, was also close friends with the racer. Some people suspected some attachment between Samus and Snake, but the two were very adamant that they weren't together.

Captain Falcon commented, "I sure am relieved to get my battle over with quickly! You four have gotta wait 'til the end!"

Sonic commented, "I hope Samus won't be too rusty after missing her match with ROB. No pun intended."

The conversation struck a more somber note at that point. Suddenly, Crazy Hand flew into the hallway and announced, "Battle between Captain Falcon and Bowser starting in thirty minutes! Thirty minutes!"

Brawlers began hustling about to finish their breakfast. Nobody wanted to miss the first match of the tournament, after all. Plates started to go into the dishwasher as the Smashers quickly wrapped up breakfast. Suddenly, Master Hand announced that Bowser and Captain Falcon should go to the warp room.

By the time sluggish Bowser had reached the warp room, the speedy racer had already arrived. The two glared at each other, and watched as the stadium selector spun around and around. It slowly rolled onto its selection: Final Destination. Both were pleased with the selection, as neither wanted to deal with any gimmicks. They heard the "3, 2, 1, Go!" of the announcer. One life was all that divided the two.

Captain Falcon began the match with a quick combo of Raptor Boost and Falcon dive, putting Bowser at 20% right away. Bowser then countered with a Whirling Fortress. Bowser then continued with his fire breath, putting Captain Falcon at 18%. The racer came back with a Falcon Kick, putting Bowser at 28%.

Bowser continued with a couple of quick slashes, and then Flying Slammed Captain Falcon. Falcon got up slowly, and used a couple of speedy kicks. Bowser was at 39%, Falcon at 31%. Then Bowser went on a rampage, Bowser Bombing Captain Falcon, following up with a Whirling Fortress, and then finishing with a strong strike to the side. Falcon had 70% now, and things were looking grim for the racer. Captain Falcon tried to charge up a Falcon Punch, but Bowser just batted him to the side.

Bowser then noticed a smash ball float on to the stage. He pursued it in the hopes of becoming Giga Bowser. One charged up strike to the air hit the smash ball. No go. Bowser followed up with a Bowser Bomb on the smash ball, which would have normally done the trick. It didn't break. A couple of aerial strikes followed, and Bowser became frustrated. By this time, Falcon had already recovered, leaped into the air, and broke the smash ball with one quick, weak strike. Falcon ran towards Bowser, and used Blue Falcon on him. Everyone watching was shocked as Captain Falcon knocked Bowser flying off the screen. "Show me your moves!" Captain Falcon declared in an annoying tone. "Game!" yelled the announcer.

He continued, "This game's winner is…Captain Falcon!" The crowd rushed to the warp room to congratulate Captain Falcon on advancing to the next round. The celebrations had gone on for a few minutes, when Wolf yelled loudly, "Hey! Hey! BE QUIET!"

The crowd fell into a shocked silence. "Where's Bowser?" Wolf inquired. Nobody knew. They were dumbfounded.

Mario called out, "He's probably taking awhile to get through the portal. Y'know, with all that fat?"

Everyone laughed with Mario, but they became more worried when Bowser never showed up.

The Smashers began to head off to dinner with no sign of Bowser. They ate their food in silence. But Lucario noticed that someone was missing. Ness. Lucario searched the Mansion for Ness' aura, and found him in the Warp room. Then an idea hit him. Lucario searched for Bowser's aura in the mansion. He couldn't find anything, so he went off to talk to Ness.

The boy stood in the Warp room, and he was startled when he saw Lucario join him. But then Lucario noticed that something was wrong with Ness. Then Lucario heard why. Warps were making this weird sound, and shaking violently. "Let's go!" shouted Lucario to the boy as he dragged him out of the room. But one of the pipes burst, sending metal into Lucario's face. The sound of Lucario screaming shook up Ness, and he carried Lucario out to safety. Ness sent a cry of help throughout the mansion, and all the Smashers, even Master and Crazy Hand, rushed downstairs to see what the problem was.

When they got there, the Smashers were surprised to see the warp room in ruins and Lucario lying limp outside the warp room. Lucas checked for a pulse, and found none. Lucario had been impaled by one of the exploding pipes in the Warp room.

"Well then." Commented Master Hand. "The warp room is broken. Crazy and I will repair it tonight, and it will be in use tomorrow for the match between King Dedede and Diddy Kong. Ike, please take care of Lucario's body. The Smashers all went off to their rooms as Ike placed Lucario's body in a coffin, to be buried the next day.

Sorry I had to follow the pattern…A death by not winning a battle, _and_ the classic early Lucario death…Don't worry, this story will be different from the other stories…I promise.


	3. Going down in Flames

Luigi got up with a start. He'd heard someone scream in the room next to him. The clock on the wall next to him said it was 2:41 in the morning. Luigi got out of his bed, trembling. He tiptoed out into the hall, and looked at the third-to-last room in the hall. He opened the door, and saw Lucas open his eyes. Luigi darted away, and then crept over to Mario's room. Luigi tried to open the door, but it was locked. Suspecting nothing, Luigi decided to go back to sleep.

When Luigi re-awoke at 9:40, everyone else was already eating breakfast. His Mushroom Kingdom friends Peach, Diddy Kong, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong were sitting down at a table.

"Didja hear?" Diddy asked Luigi.

"No, what?" Luigi responded.

"Master Hand says the damage to the Warp Room can't be repaired for another week!" Diddy exclaimed. "I can't fight Dedede for another week!"

Luigi asked, "What about Lucario?"

Peach answered, "Link doesn't have to fight anyone this round."

Luigi nodded. He turned to Donkey Kong. "You get off early today?"

DK responded, "Nobody wanted eat. But DK save you scrambled eggs."

Yoshi commented, "Eggs? Yech."

Luigi laughed at that comment. "Has anyone seen Mario?"

Diddy commented, "After all that pasta he ate for dinner, I wouldn't be surprised if he were still sleeping it off!"

Peach checked her watch. It was 10:31. Mario was typically an early riser, and he hadn't shown up for breakfast? She flatly stated, "I don't think this is very normal. And with all these malfunctions happening these days…I think we should make sure Mario's OK."

DK gave a grunt of agreement. As Peach stood up, everyone began to follow her.

The group walked down the two flights of stairs from the dining hall to the second floor, where Mario's room was. Most of the doors were left open, but Mario's was shut.

Luigi put his hand on the door, and attempted to turn the knob. But it was stuck. DK banged on the door, but to no avail. Yoshi called out, "Yoshi go find Master Hand!"

DK and Diddy began banging on the door together. Peach began to sob.

"What's wrong?" Luigi asked.

"I…I think Mario's dead!" She slowly stated.

The words hit Luigi like a brick wall. His brother couldn't be dead. He just couldn't.

Diddy stopped banging on the door. "DK, I'm not sure we want to find what's on the other side." He mused.

DK stopped banging on the door and pondered that thought for a second. Suddenly, the group began to hear the quick pitter-patter of feet come back down the hallway.

Master Hand reminded Yoshi, "If this is a joke, you're in big trouble!"

Yoshi responded with, "Just open the door.

Master hand shot a blue ball of energy at the door. It disintegrated, and the group was shocked to see Mario lying on the ground, strangled. His neck was twisted at an acute angle.

Nobody spoke. They hadn't been all that surprised or sad when Bowser, their enemy, Lucario, a quiet and pensive Pokemon, or ROB, a silent robot, had died. But Mario had been a good friend of everyone in the group. He was the favorite to win the tournament.

Suddenly, the silence was broken. Master Hand calmly said, "The tournament will be put on hold indefinitely. I can't deny it any more, Smashers are being killed. ROB's death could have been an accident, and so could Lucario's or Bowser's. But Mario was brutally killed. He couldn't have done this to himself. Tell the other smashers."

The group of five friends slowly walked out of the room, dragging their feet. Mario had been their hero, and now he was gone. They walked back to the dining hall where the rest of the Smashers awaited them, doing their dishes.

Peach began to stammer, "Uh…Uhh…everyone?"

Luigi put his hand on her shoulder. He then loudly yelled, "QUIET!"

All the other smashers turned their attention towards Luigi. He continued, "Today, Master Hand found Mario dead."

All the other smashers nodded sadly.

Luigi added, "His neck was broken."

This shocked the rest of the smashers even more. This wasn't an accident. That meant that somebody was trying to kill them. And Mario wasn't there to protect them anymore.

Sonic, the speedster, needed a break. His Nintendo counterpart and rival Mario had recently been discovered dead. Sonic's stroll by the edge of the Mansion grounds ended abruptly when he was knocked down. He looked up in surprise when a shower of fire consumed his face. Sonic's screams of agony surprised everyone in the Mansion, who began to run down to see what all the commotion was.

Luigi was the first there. He didn't have anything to put out the fire. He then remembered that Mario's FLUDD would be able to douse the flames consuming Sonic. Luigi wished that Mario were still there.

Nothing could be done about the state of Sonic. His friends Captain Falcon, Snake, and Samus were the ones who were most distraught about his death.

Master Hand announced, "The tournament has been put on hold indefinitely. Sonic has died, and that's the fifth smasher in three days! We need to get to the bottom of this. If something's not done, we will all perish."

The remaining smashers fell into a sad silence. But then Lucas spoke up. "I-…I think I know who did this." He mumbled.

All eyes were instantly on him.

"What was that?" Crazy Hand asked.

"I think Luigi did this. He would be able to."

"How?" asked a now angry Peach. She didn't like that her lover had been killed and her good friend accused in one day.

Lucas went on, "Luigi's been good with plumbing and mechanics, so he would have been able to kill ROB by short-circuiting the lighting system. And Bowser would be an obvious choice with the history between the two. Not to mention that he may have been jealous of his brother Mario. Lucario's death would have been a cinch by disabling the pipes and causing them to explode. And now Sonic's been consumed by fire. That's something only Luigi, Mario, and Bowser can do."

The group fell silent. Luigi interrupted, "But just because I have the ability to kill doesn't mean I did! Someone could have used a lighter to set Sonic on fire! And it wouldn't be difficult to plant an explosive for Lucario, Bowser, or ROB's death! I loved my brother, I would never kill him!"

Lucas countered, "But I saw you creeping around the halls last night, when Mario died! You killed him! Admit it!"

Luigi yelled, "I heard a disturbance! That was Mario dying!"

Master Hand yelled, "That's enough! Luigi, you will be on lockdown tonight, and executed tomorrow!"

Peach began to weep. Diddy, DK, and Yoshi consoled her as she ran off to her room in a huff. The threesome followed her. Luigi gulped, closed his eyes, and said, "Fine. Please know that I will forgive you when you realize that I am innocent."

One person in their midst began to feel a little guilty about Luigi. But then they remembered their ultimate goal, and shrugged off the feeling of remorse. "One step closer," they thought.

Lunch was a quiet affair, with very few people talking to each other. Ike and Marth sat with their new friends Link and Toon Link, along with Link's love interest Zelda.

"What do you think about Luigi?" asked Toon Link.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Ike said.

The others looked at him suspiciously.

"I think he's guilty." Muttered Link as he took a bite out of his grilled cheese. "Lucas is right, he's had every opportunity to get rid of all those other people, and he's had the motive as well."

"Link!" cried out Zelda. "Don't be so vindictive!"

Link responded, "Someone had to have done it."

Zelda continued, "But not necessarily Luigi! Innocent until proven guilty!"

Marth responded, "I think he has been proven guilty. Lucas's statements prove it in my mind."

Toon Link added, "But I don't think he'd kill his own brother. I wouldn't think of killing Link!"

The group laughed at the thought of that.

After lunch, Falco, Fox, Meta Knight, Olimar, and Wario sat around a table playing cards. The first four had always been friends, while Wario simply followed them around. Nobody really liked him.

"Got any threes?" Wario asked as he let out a big fart.

"Wario! If you're gonna play, don't do that during the game!" cried out Fox. "But no, I don't have any threes. Go fish."

Wario sighed in disgust.

Falco interrupted, "I'm sorry guys, I just don't feel like playing any more." He set down his cards and began to walk back to his room.

Fox caught up with him. "What's wrong?" he asked inquisitively.

Falco paused. "Mario's and Sonic's deaths have really gotten to me." Falco said. "It's like I've gotta watch my every move." Fox nodded. He went back to his game, and Falco went back to his room.

As he returned, Olimar and his Pikmin were shuffling, and he asked to be dealt in.

He looked at his cards, then to Meta Knight at his left, and asked, "Got any jacks?"

Falco was about into his room when he felt a something dull thwack his head. He went unconscious.

_What should happen to Falco? Do you want him to survive? Or do you want me to kill him off? Please review! I'll take the opinions of my reviewers into account when I write the next section of the story, so if you want me to kill him or let him live, review! Also, I have a poll on my profile about who you want to stay alive. I'll let the top vote-getter stay around a little longer than I had initially planned._


	4. Close Call and Death

Luigi was escorted by Master Hand up the stairs, up one, two, three, four flights to the fifth floor. Nobody had gone up there before. It gave him the creeps. The fifth floor of the Smash Mansion was surprisingly spacious. All the rooms looked administrative, and he wondered who worked behind those closed doors.

At the end of the long hallway was a dark iron cell. Everything looked musty and untouched. Nobody had been in the cell in a very long time. Master Hand took out a key and unlocked the cell, then tossed Luigi in it. The door slammed shut, and then there was silence. Luigi contemplated his situation. His brother had died and some of his best friends considered him the killer. It couldn't get much worse than this. Luigi sat down in a huff as Master Hand sped away.

…

Mario's murderer heard a sickening thwack as Falco's head hit the floor. Suddenly, the murderer heard footsteps at the other end of the hall. Opening the door, the killer dashed into Falco's room. Suddenly, the footsteps came closer and closer as the killer contemplated how to kill Falco. There was a knock on Falco's door. The killer, knowing that they had very little time, scurried out the window. The fall from the second floor to the ground floor wasn't very far, and luckily the killer was agile enough to sustain a graceful landing. The murderer ran around to the front of the mansion.

Back in Falco's room, the door creaked open. It was Wolf. He searched for Falco's blaster, and picked it up. Wolf had always dreamed of being a member of Star Fox…but that was a long time ago. He set down the blaster, and turned around to exit the room when he saw Falco's limp body. He was paralyzed with shock. Luigi was already in jail, so that must mean…that he wasn't the killer!

Wolf dashed off to Crazy Hand's room on the fourth floor. Master Hand would probably still be dealing with Luigi, so he needed to let Crazy Hand know.

…

Luigi looked around at the dank, drab walls of his prison. There was no hope for him. Losing hope, Luigi searched around the cell for something he needed. Hanging from the ceiling, Luigi found it: an old, frayed rope. He tied it around his neck and stood upon the toilet that occupied another corner of the cell. Then, Luigi found a pipe running across the ceiling. Standing on top of the toilet, he tied the other end of the rope to the pipe. He jumped, and snapped his neck.

…

"And that's why Luigi can't be the killer!" Wolf concluded, after telling Crazy Hand that finding Falco wounded meant Luigi couldn't have done it.

"Very well." Said Crazy Hand. "You go tell Peach of what happened to Falco, and bring him with you. She used to be a nurse. I'll find Master and tell him to release Luigi."

Wolf went off. Down on the third floor, he knocked on the door to Peach's room. The door opened to show a bleary-eyed Peach, her eyes stained with tears. "What happened?" she asked, gesturing to Falco.

"He was knocked out by the murderer."

"I…I can't do it. I can't help him. It just brings back too many memories."

Wolf sighed. He had known that Peach probably wouldn't be willing to help him, given what had happened earlier that day.

Wolf inquired, "Is there anyone else I can find to help him?"

Peach paused. "Zelda's magic may be able to help him." She concluded.

…

Crazy Hand sped through the halls of the fifth floor, and stopped as he saw the cell at the end of the hall. Luigi was dead, and he had a look of inner peace about himself. He proceeded to Master Hand's office, on the right, to tell him the somber news.

…

Wolf dragged Falco's body down the hall to Zelda's room. Two swift knocks were followed by Zelda's answering the door. Wolf once again asked if there was anything Zelda could do about the Starfox pilot. Zelda lay the avian down on the floor, and closed her eyes.

She placed her hand on the bird's forehead, and began to search for some sort of consciousness. Once she found his inner consciousness, she began to attempt to force Falco awake. Suddenly, Falco sat up with a surprised, "Huh!"

"What happened?" Wolf demanded.

"I…uh…don't know. My head hurts…a lot." Falco replied. "I think it was the murderer…"

Falco lay limp once again.

"He'll wake up again." Zelda stated. "Take him to his room, and let him recuperate.

…

Crazy Hand slowly entered Master Hand's office. The wiser hand knew that something was wrong with his twin immediately. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I-I-It's Luigi." Crazy Hand stammered.

"Good. He deserves it after what he did to his own brother. I would wish that upon myself if I killed you." Master Hand spat out.

"B-b-b-but he's not the murderer." Crazy Hand flatly replied.

"And how do you know?"

"Because someone else was attacked."

"What? Who?"

"Falco was attacked. Wolf told me."

"Ugh…I suppose it's time we told the Smashers. It's best everyone knows everything."

"I suppose it is." Crazy Hand finished. He exited the room, not daring to look at the gruesome sight to his right.

…

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter! I just need to think a lot about the way more people will die and how this story will progress. If you have any ideas, put them in the review, and, based on what I have planned for the rest of the story, I might include it.


	5. Training

A/N: Looks like I haven't disclaimed this story yet. I don't own any of the characters, and I (probably) never will.

Crazy Hand always seemed to have a sense of vigor about him. That had all gone. If not for the positioning of his fingers, some may have mistaken him for Master Hand at this point. Crazy had always been shut away from everyone else, as he was the "embarrassment" of the Hand family. He hadn't been exposed to the other murders. But Luigi's death had struck a chord with him. Luigi was second-fiddle to Mario, just like he was second-fiddle to Master Hand. If his more serious brother died, would he be able to take his place? Or would Crazy Hand buckle just as Luigi had? All these questions pressed down on the left hand.

The fifth and final floor of Smash Mansion may have been primarily administrative, but it also had other purposes. One of which was the emergency broadcaster. This did exactly what it sounded like it did: it alerted the Smashers of an emergency. Standard protocol was to meet in the basement.

After he arrived at the emergency broadcaster, Crazy Hand pulled the lever that turned the broadcaster on. He spoke in an unusual monotone voice: "I demand that all smashers meet me in the basement. It's an _emergency_. Now."

A few minutes later, the entire group had arrived in the basement. Soft murmurs escaped the group. Crazy Hand cleared his throat, and addressed the crowd. He said, "As some of you know, Falco has been ambushed."

Wolf spoke up, "I thought we addressed this! This means that Luigi was innocent! So please, let him free!"

Crazy Hand responded in a calm voice, "I know. Lu-Luigi's still in prison. But you don't understand. He-He's dead!"

This shocked Wolf, among many others, to the core. One dead, and another ambushed?

Crazy Hand appeared to have broken down. "And…And Falco has yet to wake up. He's still sleeping."

The crowd fell into a deeper state of silence. Now Falco would be a living reminder of the capabilities of the murderer. The group dispersed, and people began to return to their rooms.

….…

When Red got back to his room, he was pretty tired. The third floor was a long way from the basement. But it was time to train. If he had any chance to win against Pit in his match, he would have to train. He took his three Poke Balls out of his backpack. He hadn't taken Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard out of their Poke Balls this entire trip! Red then began the long walk from his room all the way down to the exit of the Mansion.

Once outside, he tossed all three Poke Balls at once. Squirtle, Charizard, and Ivysaur emerged. While Squirtle and Charizard shook off tiredness, Ivysaur never seemed to quite escape the feeling of lethargy that overcame him. Red decided it was time for a foot race. He commanded his Pokemon to line up, and counted down. "On your marks…get set…go!"

Squirtle emerged to a quick lead. As always. The Pokemon was small and quick, so he always won these races. But something was different. He was much farther ahead of Ivysaur than normal. The four-legged Pokemon was even behind Charizard! In the end, Squirtle finished first, followed by Charizard, and then Ivysaur. Red commented to Squirtle and Charizard on how well they did, and scolded Ivysaur for getting last. Ivysaur let out a tired, "Saur."

To wind up his training, Red had each Pokemon use its four moves. Squirtle used Water Gun, Withdraw, Waterfall, and Tackle, while Charizard went with Slash, Flamethrower, Rock Smash and Fly. Ivysaur used a weak Bullet Seed, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, and Acid. "Oh well." thought the Trainer. He'd have to rely more on Charizard and Squirtle than normal. Training then concluded.

…

Link returned to his room on the second floor at about the same time as Red. The Hylian began to open his door, when suddenly there was a loud clang and his body seared with pain. Link let out a final yell before his skin was consumed.

The scream let out by Link was loud enough that Lucas, Kirby, and Jigglypuff, his three closest roommates, were able to hear it. The two puffballs and boy were horrified to see Link's face covered in boiling acid which was also eating away at his skin. Link's screams were eventually muffled into nothingness. Link lay silently, the acid having done its fatal work. They turned away and ran, screaming, to Master Hand's room.

…

In his room, Master Hand couldn't help but feel responsible for Luigi's death. Obviously, the plumber had made the choice to commit suicide, but Master Hand had put Luigi in the situation to kill himself. Master Hand looked down at all the paperwork on his desk. It was mostly administrative stuff. One…two…three…four…five…six smashers, all dead! Master hand knew that these deaths must be stopped. He was about to assemble an investigation team when a loud banging was heard on his door. The hand sighed. "Come in." he stated. Master Hand realized that this was no good news.

The teenager and two puffballs entered the room. Lucas spoke up. "M…Master hand? Link's dead." Master hand sighed. He had been doing that a lot lately. "What was it this time?" Lucas replied, "Acid." The hand nodded. "Then it looks like someone's killing off the stars. Mario, Link, and Sonic's deaths can't all be a coincidence. It's likely that Bowser, Lucario, and ROB simply knew too much. And Luigi was an added bonus. But I don't know why I'm telling you this. Thank you. Please go back to your rooms…and stay alive."

…

Toon Link staggered down the hall to see his friend Link. At the sight of Link's body, the younger Link fainted.

A/N: Sorry this is such a late update!


	6. Team Killing

Toon Link quickly awoke. It all came back to him…Link, covered in acid…he shivered at the thought. The young Hylian began to boil over with rage…who could have done this? Whoever it was, Toon Link vowed that he or she would die. Suddenly, Red approached the body of Link. It all made sense to Toon Link…Red's Ivysaur must have supplied the acid! Red killed Link!

The younger Link screamed, "You…you did this!"

Red looked at him quizzically.

But it was too late to stop Toon Link. He unsheathed his sword and slashed it at Red's leg. A stream of blood came from the leg. Red limped away, pulled out a random Poke Ball, and tossed it. Squirtle came out. He tried to keep Toon Link away with a Water Gun, but, after training, he was too tired. Toon Link stabbed the small turtle through its chest. It crumpled.

Red screamed. Nobody heard him, so he took out another Poke Ball. This one was Charizard's. If anything could keep Toon Link away, it would be him. But before Charizard knew what was happening, he was decapitated. Red was about to take out Ivysaur's Poke Ball when he felt a sharp pain in his back. Red fell over and waited for a finishing blow. It never came.

Before Toon Link could finish off Red, a smasher came corkscrewing from out of nowhere and into Toon Link. Suddenly, the attacker was the one on the verge of death. Meta Knight, the one who had stopped the murder, asked, "Why are you doing this, Toon Link?"

The boy sputtered, "He killed Link! He must have!"

Red croaked out, "No…no I didn't! I don't know who did!"

Meta Knight didn't know who to pity more. Was it Red, who had been attacked for no reason, or Toon Link, who would spend his dying moments in shame? Toon Link gasped, and pleaded, "Red…forgive me!" Toon Link was no more. And Red looked as if he was about to follow his assailant. Red sputtered, "Take Ivysaur, Meta Knight…and find out who killed me."

Red fell limp as well. By this time, a large crowd had formed around the trio. Meta Knight looked sadly at the Poke Ball in his glove. It felt unnatural. He looked over to Pikachu. Pikachu nodded back. Meta Knight gave the Poke Ball to the small rodent, who took it and ran off.

Meta Knight cleared his throat. "All right, we'll need to find out who's been killing all these people!"

Ganondorf retorted, "I think we're done here. It was Toon Link, was it not?"

Zelda angrily replied, "Stop being so cynical, Ganondorf!"

Ganondorf angrily responded, "I'm not being cynical! _I'm_ being optimistic. I would like to think that the killer is dead, no?"

This struck a chord with everyone else in the hall. Before, the killer was an anonymous figure. Now, it was something more. Link's murderer was one of _them_. Everyone looked at the person next to them suspiciously.

Meta Knight spoke up. "Toon Link said he only killed Red because he thought Red killed Link. It's safer to assume the killer is still out there, so let's find him or her!"

Ness stepped forward. "I…I can't help but feel that I caused Lucario's death. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have been in the warp room in the first place. I need to find his killer. I will help you." he said.

Zelda spoke up as well. "Link has saved me all these times; I think I should allow him to rest in peace."

Snake added, "You'll need all the help you can get. I know all about stealth; if anyone can find the killer, it's me.

Wolf plainly stated, "Even though Falco wasn't my best of friends, it's hard to see someone so skilled go down. I'll join as well. Safety in numbers."

Meta Knight pondered his fivesome. Certainly a unique group. It was certainly suspicious that Wolf and Snake joined. They hadn't even lost anyone close to them! Meta Knight reminded himself that being a member of the group didn't exempt anyone from being a suspect.

Ness suggested, "Maybe we should have, you know, a team meeting. It's almost dinner, but we need to figure things out. There's no time to waste!"

Meta Knight nodded. He added, "Where should we meet?"

Yoshi, who had not yet returned to his room, whispered, "Yoshi no want tell anyone, but Yoshi in. Yoshi worried about being targeted."

Snake looked at the dinosaur. He was much smarter than he looked. "Drat!" He thought. "I should have thought of that!"

Zelda quipped, "That doesn't answer the question of where we should meet. We obviously can't have a secret meeting sharing everything we know about the killer in the halls!"

Yoshi spoke up. "We can't have it anywhere that anyone else would, you know, stroll into casually."

Wolf, breaking his long silence, added, "There are a lot of administrative rooms on the top floor, where the Hands live. We could ask Master Hand for one of those."

….

Kirby looked at the ground. A lone tear dribbled from his eye. It wasn't just the fact that his friends Mario, Sonic, and Link, among others, were now dead. It was that Kirby was scared. He noticed that all those people were the big-shots. Namely, they were the heroes, the ones who had overcome all the obstacles, the role models. Kirby was just, well, a puffball. But he was one of the biggest stars left. He had made friends with Pikachu, the Ice Climbers, and Jigglypuff simply because they weren't all that intimidating. Monsters like Bowser had scared Kirby.

Not only was Kirby now a role model, he was also a target. The killer had made his or her message very clear with the murders of Link, Sonic, and Mario: Those who were heroes died. Kirby didn't want to be a hero. He looked to his left and saw Popo and Nana playing checkers.

"How can you play checkers at a time like this?" Kirby demanded. "Toon Link and Red just _died_. And you're playing a children's game."

Popo calmly responded, "If we are going to die soon, I'd rather do it playing checkers. It's way more fun that way."

Kirby dismissively ran out the door. He didn't want to think about it, but he had to go to work now. Dinner needed to be prepared.

….

Pikachu sprinted back to his room with Ivysaur's pokeball in his pocket. It had something to do with the death of Red, he knew it! Pikachu wondered why he had been treated as a human. Most people looked to him as one of their own. But not Ivysaur, Squirtle, or Charizard. "Don't think about them!" Pikachu reminded himself. His goal was to completely forget about all those who were dead. Remembering brought pain.

When he finally arrived, Pikachu let the Poke Ball roll out of his grasp, and Ivysaur burst out. Pikachu remembered when he had a Poke Ball to stay in. He hated it then, but would have given anything to escape to one now.

Pikachu began talking to Ivysaur. Since only Pokemon could understand each other, Ivysaur was relieved to have someone to talk to. The story Ivysaur told was a strange one. He remembered being awoken and quickly blindfolded in the middle of the night by someone big during the previous night. That someone easily overpowered Ivysaur, and forced the acid out of him. That explained why Ivysaur had been so tired.

Pikachu had to tell Master Hand! He dashed up the stairs, all the way to the top floor, with Ivysaur in tow. At Master Hand's room, he opened the door. He saw two people in the room: One of whom, he was surprised to see, the other, not so much. The unexpected person was Falco.

Falco knew Pikachu and Ivysaur didn't understand English, but he tried to talk to the pair anyway. "Look, Pikachu, Ivysaur, I-I-I know this looks bad. But I didn't do it. I-I-I swear, I didn't!"

Pikachu looked to the wall opposite the door. On it was Master Hand. Or, more appropriately, his remains. The glove had been nailed into the wall with four fingers sticking up, but the thumb tucked inside. On the index and ring fingers, the hand had been deliberately been sliced open with a knife. The wounds formed one long, straight line on both fingers. Blood trickled down from the nails and from where Master Hand's glove had been sliced open.

The trio realized how dire the situation was now. It wasn't just _Smashers_ who were dying, it was also their guardian, their _leader_! Crazy Hand needed to know about this.

But alas, when Falco, Pikachu, and Ivysaur entered Crazy Hand's room on the opposite end of the hall, he was in the same condition. Four fingers up, two fingers cut open. Obviously the same person who had been murdering others had killed both hands. The question was, who? Forgetting to use the emergency radio system, Pikachu, Ivysaur, and Falco dashed downstairs.

….

Kirby began serving the food that he had prepared along with Donkey Kong. Tonight, they had a volunteer assist them with the food. Wario of all people decided to be helpful tonight. And while he was still his brash self, something had seemed different about him. Kirby couldn't put his finger on it…

But Kirby didn't think much of it. He had been off a little bit today too. "I guess when your friends start dying, your outlook on life changes." he thought. He handed the food to his friends, Popo and Nana. Kirby then had to get back to serving food. He was behind.

Popo, being unusually hungry, had begun to steal some of Pikachu's Pokemon food. "Classic Popo!" Kirby thought. He went back to the kitchen to fetch some more food.

Suddenly, a loud commotion was heard from the kitchen. Popo began screaming loudly, yelling something about his stomach. The boy slowly began running slower and slower, until…he collapsed.

The door to the dining hall opened at the same time that Popo's dead body hit the floor. Those who weren't looking at Popo found that Pikachu, Ivysaur, and Falco had arrived.

A/N: Sorry this chapter's a little bit later than normal, but it's also longer. The update was delayed by a few days because the site wouldn't let me update for a while (I don't know why). Here's who is still alive.

Capt. Falcon, Dedede, Diddy, DK, Falco, Fox, Game and Watch, Ganondorf, Ike, Jigglypuff, Kirby, Lucas, Marth, Meta Knight, Nana, Ness, Olimar, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Samus, Snake, Wario, Wolf, Yoshi, Zelda

Submit your guesses as to who's been doing some killing!


	7. Ike's Time to Shine

A/N: I think this is the best idea I've had for a chapter yet. But the one I'm planning after this will either make you hate this story or like it more… hope you enjoy it! Oh, and I think you probably already know this, but I don't own any of these characters.

The group stood around Popo's body, a melancholy silence enveloping the scene. Nana began weeping. She felt as though half of her had died with her brother.

Kirby remembered the last thing Popo had said to him. Popo had said that Kirby shouldn't be depressed when he died.

Meta Knight, stoic as ever, spoke up. "We're going to need someone to inspect the food before we begin serving it again. I'd rather go a night without food than risk getting killed by it."

Olimar replied, "I can do it. My Pikmin know when something's poisonous…but you're right. I'll inspect the food tonight, and you guys can eat tomorrow."

Then it hit Pikachu. The food being poisoned…had been his! He was supposed to be dead, not Popo. Pikachu pitied his friend.

Falco interrupted everyone's mourning by stating, "There's something else, too. When I woke up from my state of unconsciousness, I went up to Master and Crazy Hand's rooms. I found them dead."

The Smashers in the dining hall were shocked. A few of them even began to tear up.

Meta Knight announced, "People who I spoke to earlier today, I'd like to talk to you again. You know who you are. Everyone else, return to your rooms."

Yoshi, trying to pretend like he wasn't part of Meta Knight's group, began to go back to his room. About halfway down the hall on the third floor, he turned around. However, on his trip back down the stairwell, someone was waiting for him. Yoshi, suspecting nothing, continued on his way. Suddenly, Yoshi was enveloped with a pain that encased his entire body. He was blinded, and his skin began to bubble like it was being boiled. Yoshi could take the pain no longer, and gave up. His lease on life had expired. Yoshi was dead.

….

Back in the dining hall, Meta Knight began discussing suspicions with his group. He stated, "Our numbers are dwindling. Surely there must be someone we're suspicious of!"

Wolf interjected, "Wait, where's Yoshi?"

Zelda replied, "He's probably doing some sort of patrol or something. Trying to see what he can find as clues."

Snake, finally replying to Meta Knight's question, explained, "The person who's most suspicious to me is Wario. After all, the person who knocked out Falco had to have been pretty strong. And the only night that someone is poisoned by food, he's the only one in the kitchen. Sounds suspicious to me."

Ness nodded. "Hmm…how about Falco himself? He could have faked being knocked out, then killed both Master and Crazy Hand with his guns. That's all I've got. I'll go on a patrol as well. Anyone who's out now is suspicious, and there's no way Yoshi could have covered all that ground on his own."

Wolf replied defensively, "No! Falco's much to honorable to have done that! He's the good guy! He can't have done that!"

Snake retorted, "So then it must be someone evil? An anti-hero? Like you? Or Ganondorf? Or King Dedede? By that logic, it's either you or one of your pals."

Wolf meekly replied, "I-I just know Falco too well. It doesn't seem like he's that kind of guy."

Zelda commented, "I'm suspicious of Pikachu. After all, he's in possession of Ivysaur, the killer of Link. And the food incident with Popo may have been to make himself look like a target. Nobody suspects the victim."

Snake added, "This is just my two cents, but why did Olimar volunteer so quickly to be food inspector? And why didn't the Pikmin know that someone had poisoned Pikachu's food? If they're so knowledgeable about food, they would have detected that."

Suddenly, the group heard Yoshi's cries. The four ran upstairs to find Yoshi's body in the middle of the stairway. Ness came down from the fifth floor sprinting, and almost stepped on Yoshi when he saw the group.

"What happened? I was looking at where the Hands' bodies were when I heard a scream!"

Meta Knight replied, "Someone killed Yoshi. We don't know how. But his skin looks unnaturally light. As if he's an underdeveloped photo."

Zelda commented, "We should get back to our rooms. The killer's still on the loose!

Snake replied, "No! We've got to search!"

Suddenly, a crash was heard from somewhere above the group.

Wolf interjected, "My blaster's in my room. I don't have any ability to attack. Neither do Meta Knight or you without weapons. We could all five get killed. Let's flee.

Meta Knight nodded. The fivesome split up and ran back to their respective rooms, unharmed.

….

Day turned into night, and it was uneventful.

Ike lay in his bed, unable to sleep. He heard a commotion out in the hall, and contemplated whether he should find out what it was. Ultimately, curiosity got the better of him, and he saw Fox shooting at DK, who was dodging. DK was slowly advancing toward Fox. Who should Ike help?

A/N: This is where this chapter gets cool. In your review, tell me whether Ike should help DK or Fox. After a specific number of people have voted (I've picked that number) I will unofficially close the voting, so no matter what future reviews say, I'll go with the previous ones! So if you'd rather see DK or Fox live, review!

People left:

Capt. Falcon, Dedede, Diddy, DK, Falco, Fox, Game and Watch, Ganondorf, Ike, Jigglypuff, Kirby, Lucas, Marth, Meta Knight, Nana, Ness, Olimar, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Samus, Snake, Wario, Wolf, Zelda


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